#kh ultimania

[a-s-t-a-r-i-o-n]

i was reading the kingdom hearts ultimania about destiny islands and i love how they’re talking about sora’s special someone, telling it’s not namine but rather… and then you have riku’s section lol

what a good transition 👀

[magicalpoptarts]

So like, were none of us gonna talk about how the inside of a paopu fruit is apparently FUCKING GREEN?

Source: Kingdom Hearts Ultimania the story before kingdom hearts III

[nyctoheart]

another thing about khdr that doesn't makes sense is that KH3 reinforces the idea that unless you submit to the power of darkness, you can't open Dark Corridors (Sora in Toy Box and Ienzo about Even)

But somehow Xehanort was able to enter one a year after DR's main story ?????

If the whole point was referencing BbS's Report 2, where Xehanort tried to withstand the darkness of the Lanes Between, then why not animate Xehanort traveling through a star field like TAV in BBS? It would have just been a repeating starry background and 1 sprite of a keyblade vehicle...

[oveliagirlhaditright]

Also:

William Afton's ending in Five Nights at Freddy's> Xehanort's ending in Kingdom Hearts

Why am I making this comparison? Because the FNAF and KH franchises have quite a few things in common, and one of these things are just how similar their main series villains are.

I'll take William Afton's ghost, in his animatronic suite, being burnt alive as his old friend Henry Emily tells him the deepest part of Hell has opened up to welcome him, so don't keep the Devil waiting over Xehanort getting to pretty much go to Kingdom Hearts heaven with his best friend, who he'd murdered, after he had just murdered Kairi any day.

Both of these characters are child murderers, essentially (I say "essentially," because I know someone will argue that Xehanort leading Ven to the point where his heart was shattered, and he became comatose for a decade+--and would have been much worse off if Sora hadn't helped him--isn't actually murder. But this is a Disney series rated E10+. I imagine they can only do so much. Plus, when he was causing worlds to get blown up in KHI, I feel like those people were dead. And, no: the fact that Sora was able to bring these worlds--and the people--back at the end of the game doesn't make it better), and Xehanort deserved something akin to what William Afton got.

"Oh, but we've learned now that Xehanort had good intentions and he had a sad past."

I don't care! His "good intentions" excuse nothing with the actions he took to get there! And William Afton probably killed Henry Emily's daughter because he blamed him for his own son's death (so he also had a "sad past")... and while you may understand that logic, does it excuse that or anything else he's done? No.

[lesbianbishounen]

you know its fucking bad when you consider buying a game ultimania that was never translated into english

[mythicalartistx]

The Quadratum being planned since day 1 is So Much more important than you think:

Everyone knows the creator of Kingdom Hearts has always planned for things ahead of time but for something that was recently added at the final game to be thought of since the beginning is even crazier. It would make sense to be thought of around kh2 or BBS and have plans for it, but this early is actually very interesting.

And there are so many hints and things that could relate to this.

For example the unreality being stated in regards to the world that never was. Ansem often used the terms unreality and fictional world in reference to things, however, people just assumed it had to do with The World That Never Was for the most part.

Xehanort did create TWTNW from a memory of another world and TWTNW was never an actual place or city. It's probably why the sea salt trio along with the other nobodies were often in Twilight Town. The other world could be quadratum.

That is in KH2, but let's take a look at the very first game.

The first game has the opening line, I've been having these weird thoughts lately. Like is any of this for real or not?

Alone the line could refer to the being in a world that makes actually be fake. However knowing that Yozora also says this line at the end of Re:Mind and that the quadratum was thought of since day one makes it so much more important.

This line refers to quadratum or Sora's world. Quadratum is said to be a fictional world but what if Sora's world was like that instead because from Sora's perspective Quadratum is fiction.

Now when taking a lot at the beta trailer of kh1, there are a lot of lines that relate to kh3 and beyond.

First we have the opening quote which I already discussed, then we have "Your body, your soul, your whole existence.. they're all going to disappear." This refers to Sora going to quadratum at the end of kh3, this hint being planned at the start is just something else.

Next is another line about saving Sora and Sora leaving and we have to question why. There could have just been random lines but with the knowledge of Yozora and Quadratum being there since the beginning it's mostly likely having to do with that.

Now in the secret ending of KH1, we have a moment where phrases pop up and one of them is A world between= forgotten world The gathering and if TWTNW actually has to do with Quadratum instead it would makes sense for it to be a forgotten world from a memory of Quadratum that Xehanort had. The opening of kh2 A far off memory that is like a scattered dream. Xehanort had a dream and wanted to change the world where he would have 13 lives to fix it and a 14th to finally see the world — the world where he saw was quadratum, also there is a possibility another version of Xehanort lives in Quadratum

And finally I recently saw a part of the KH1 Ultimania where there is a statement from Tetsuya Nomura that the words that appear in the opening was originally going to be said by a certain character.

Now in KH3, Yozora says those exact same lines and a lot of them point to Yozora which is why I have the belief Yozora has been at the beginning for a long time.

And finally the kh3 opening line— They can take your heart. Cut you loose from all you know. But if it's your fate...then every step forward will always be a step closer to home.

If Sora says if it's your fate to be cut from everything you know which refers to going to quadratum. Then he says if that's the fate it will be a step forward to home cause what if being home is actually Quadratum because it's not actually fiction but the KH worlds are fiction.

Since to KH people they know of their worlds but what if Xehanort figured that out. He was researching and studying for awhile after all and Ansem did seem to know of an unreality.

Cause if it's actually the case, and if the real reason they can cross into datascapes such as Tron, Jimminy's Journal and a fake versions such as Twilight Town and Daybreak Town; and because of a book of prophecies that foretold everything which could have been created by someone in Quadratum.

Since Yozora seems to know about this and is going to actually be way more important than some people originally thought. He understands that his world and Quadratum is an unreality which probably means it is another reality and make their world become fake.

There are still so many questions and so many theories that it remains endless, is the KH worlds fiction to them just as Quadratum is a fake reality? Are these hints actual hints that relate to the Quadratum really being there or are they just unsolved questions and theories.

But all we know is that the ideas for Quadratum and Yozora have been ideas since the beginning.

[jellyfishvibes]

The urge i have to buy the kh ultimania and get it rebound to look like jiminy's journal

[tennelleflowers]

you got me hyper fixated on kingdom hearts and I don't know where to go from here. Can you maybe give advice for how to expand on the basics?

I've gotten a few requests to share videos and such, so consider this my answer: Best place is to play the games! And be sure to read the journal! After that, there's a lot to sink your teeth into if you want to know more, like reading the Ultimania's, Character Files, and Novels.

The Manga's are also cute, but generally considered less canon than the novels, for example.

Plus there are DECADES worth of interviews, I recommend using KHInsider as they are a great source :https://www.khinsider.com/dark-seeker-saga (You can click on the game you want to know more about and then look at Interviews, but they also have promo art on there and just a bunch of stuff)

There's also this great playlist made by GamerSpice of CHOICE KH videos, you'll find all my videos there but also all of Howler's vids and SRT vids as well as others: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLROrAtfTLrh6njOkpzREkZXXvCcINa8iO SuperButterBuns has made fantastic KH videos in her "For Beginners" series, RegularPat makes great content all around discussing the games, Damo279 has great videos covering the mobile games, BioRoxas has great videos breaking down the combat of the games, PlayFrame has a couple of great videos talking about how great the animation in KH is ( https://youtu.be/Z8aygr-1xAA), and of course I gotta recommend hanging out in Niku's streams where they talk about KH on the reg: https://www.twitch.tv/nikutsune (You can also watch their vods here: https://www.youtube.com/@nikustreamarchive ) There's so many people I could also recommend following for their art or metas like @blowingoffsteam2, Kipper on twitter (https://twitter.com/kicktwine), @smovs, @nicedracula, jiji on twitter (https://twitter.com/isleofji), aaannd damn there's just so many...

you can also follow my KH-blog @khllentxene, where I reblog a lot of stuff so that's a good way to start following other cool people.

IT'S A LOT! And also doesn't include everything and everyone I could mention, but I think it'll at least give you a good jumping in point!

[katkeyboardmastah]

The Young Xehanort inconsistencies

Originally posted: September 3rd 2022.

I want to slowly migrate some of my Kingdom Hearts lore musings instead of just sharing links:

Speaking of links, the original Google doc version of this post can be read HERE.

First up! The YMX doc that I had made after playing through the remainder of Dark Road's story.

Disclaimer: I will only reference material such as in-game cutscenes, interviews and Ultimanias, so other supplementary pieces such as the novels and the like will not be considered. Everything written here is my own personal interpretation. Interview translations were done by KHInsider.

Putting everything else under the cut cuz boy this is gonna be a long one-

First of all, let us review the updated timeline provided by KHDR itself:

----------------------------------------------------

So, Kingdom Hearts Dark Road did not shed light on a couple of things, Xehanort’s eyes becoming golden being just one example. While I cannot say anything concrete about the hows and whys behind the fact that his eye colour changes at some point in time, I CAN, however, make an educated guess as to why the time-travelling Young Xehanort seems to flip flop between gold and silver eyes.

(Xehanort throughout time: 9 years ago, KHDR’s story, 7 years later and 54 years later)

Xehanort’s eyes are naturally silver throughout his youth. Chronologically, the first instance we see him with golden eyes, if we rule out time-travel, is when he is already in his late years, as an old man, 54 years AFTER KHDR. The latest point in time shown to us before that era is when Xehanort leaves Scala Ad Caelum, 7 years AFTER KHDR’s main story. Meaning, the point in which Xehanort’s eyes change colour can be ANYWHERE between age 22/23 and 69/70, assuming the Xehanort in the main campaign is 15/16 years old (if we take Nomura’s statement from TGS 2018, that old man Xehanort is around 80 into account).

Here’s the big kicker though: What about the time-travelling Young Xehanort? In both KHDDD and KHIII his eyes are gold. But then you might say: Well, maybe he was pulled from that blank period of time you just mentioned, his early 20s onwards? The problem with that is the fact that the encounter between Xehanort and the Master of Masters takes place only ONE YEAR after the main events of KHDR. Additionally, in the second part of that very same encounter Xehanort implies that he has already time-travelled at least once:

The MoM: Sounds like you already know where you’re headed. YX: It’s funny. Somehow, I can sense where I’m supposed to go, and what I’m supposed to do. Yes, even this coat, there’s something familiar about it, as if I’m meant to wear this.

This corresponds with what he told Sora in KHDDD:

Since in both KHIIIRM’s and KHDR’s version of the scene his eyes are silver, this means that upon time-travelling they become gold but upon returning they go back to silver. My answer for this ‘switch’ can only be the following:

YX: I will return to my time, and grow into the man who becomes all these others. While I know this future now that I have lived it, returning to my own time will erase the memories and experiences I have gained here. Still my appointed path is now etched in my heart, which will first lead me to seek the outside world. (will return to this part later in the post)

The old man Xehanort gave Young Xehanort a piece of his heart.

Which sounds kinda ridiculous (even for KH standards), but I can prove that might be the case. Let’s remember who makes up KHIII’s true Organization XIII:

The recompleted Master Xehanort, the version furthest on the timeline;

The recompleted people turned once more into Nobodies: Xigbar, Saix, Marluxia, Larxene, Luxord, Demyx and Vexen. The last two being reserve members;

The versions of Xehanort pulled from the past but came to be after KHBBS-era Master Xehanort: Terra-Xehanort, Xemnas and Ansem Seeker of Darkness;

The non-Xehanort characters pulled from the past: Vanitas, Xion and Dark Riku (Replitwo);

The first of the Xehanorts, the Xehanort of the most distant past: Young Xehanort.

You can see that none of the other members aside from YX originate from a time before KHBBS. And as it is now established, this iteration did not originally have golden eyes. To add onto that, as stated in group 4, these 3 were the only characters that travelled to the future by having their hearts be placed inside replicas and are not a version of Xehanort. Vanitas is debatable because we don’t  know if he had that eye colour inherently even when his face changed to reflect Sora’s or was it because of old man Xehanort. The statement about Vanitas originally having red eyes while he was still faceless does not apply because its source is solely the KHBBS novel, which is not canon material. Replitwo’s change is more noticeable since you can directly compare him with the original Riku Replica who even appears in the same scene as him at the very end. As for Xion’s change, it’s only visible if you bump up the brightness while her face is not fully covered or mod out the shadow cast by her hood. If there is a need for official confirmation that these 3 characters do come from the past look no further than this chart from the KHIII Ultimania:

Do note that ‘eliminated’ can also refer to simply returning to their own time period but ceasing to exist in KHIII’s time as it’s said in Young Xehanort’s section of the very same chart.

Ok but, why would there be any need for this. Simple, that version of Xehanort was not ready to handle the darkness the same way old man Xehanort does yet. He needed the Black Coat or the armour or any other form of protection. And as seen in KHDR itself, were it not for the MoM saving him in the Dark Corridor, he would have perished. The following lines from the second encounter cement this further:

The MoM: No… you’ll ditch it soon. YX: What do you mean? The MoM: I mean that one day you’re going to outgrow it. YX: How so? The MoM: If you truly possess great power, the darkness can’t control you. You won’t need a silly old coat to stay safe. In fact, you’ll be the one controlling the darkness instead.

It wouldn’t seem far-fetched either knowing that the explanation behind the Young Xehanort boss fight at the end of KHDDD that the Ultimania provides is this:

Question: Did King Mickey’s time magic not work properly on Young Xehanort because Young Xehanort has the power to control time? Nomura’s answer: Not Young Xehanort’s but rather Master Xehanort’s power. King Mickey was surprised at the time, seeing his Keyblade and noticing he harboured the power of Master Xehanort…

Additionally, aside from King Mickey, Master Xehanort and Young Xehanort are the only other characters who directly take note of Sora’s reckless usage of the Power of Waking in KHIII and KHIIIRM, meaning that at the very least, YX was imparted with such knowledge as well the power to transcend time, which he receives from potato sack Ansem SoD.

The secret endings to KHRe:Coded in the KH HD II.5 Remix collection are another piece of evidence, because we see YX already in place before KHDDD begins, ready to gather the remaining vessels. Meanwhile, since both Ansem SoD and Xemnas have been vanquished, Master Xehanort should by now exist at this point in time as himself given how the same thing has happened with the other ex-Nobodies of the Organization.

To add onto that video we finally have a confirmation from Nomura himself that yes, the design used in KHDR that depicts Young Xehanort’s time on the Destiny Islands is the correct version while the one used in KHBBS and KHDDD is outdated according the most recent Q&A:

Now here’s the funny part. When did Young Xehanort time-travel? Or a better question, if KHDR has revealed that his initial encounter with potato sack Ansem SoD was not the point from which he began his journey to the future but rather his what led him to Scala Ad Caelum… did he encounter him again at some point which finally did spur him to time-travel?

Sonny Novus made a video about how fleshing out Xehanort’s backstory by deaging him even further caused more problems in hindsight and I believe it still holds up so I recommend watching it if you haven’t done so by now.

Question: In previous titles, we saw the Xehanort who leaves Destiny Islands as a young man. He seems a lot younger in KHDR. Nomura’s answer: KHDR presents the correct version. For previous games, we used the young man model we already had as a catch-all symbolic representation of "his youth," in order to save cost modelling a young boy version. In KHIII, they were specifically split. I'd like you to interpret it as the symbolic representation becoming a rich one.

So the only time Young Xehanort could time-travel to the future while still having a consistent design with the one we see in KHDDD and KHIII can be anywhere between the point he changes his hairstyle and his second encounter with the MoM that takes place 1 year after KHDR’s main campaign. Thus, confirming that he could not have possibly transcended time after his first encounter with potato sack Ansem SoD. While it does go in line with the implication that at the time, Xehanort did not realise he was talking to a version of himself, it still contradicts another line in KHDDD by suggest that his now forgotten time-travelling escapades were not the reason he sought out the outside world by rather his dreams of the Player’s life (or lives).

YX: Still my appointed path is now etched in my heart, which will first lead me to seek the outside world.

Putting this contradiction aside, there should have been a second encounter between these two during that 1 year year interval. Either YX found his way back to Destiny Islands or has met potato sack Ansem SoD somewhere else, realising that he is a future version of himself, which would finally spur him to travel forward in time.

Now let’s address the other elephant in the room, Young Xehanort’s Keyblade. We still do not have an official name for it but what we do know is that it’s supposed to be No Name (the goat themed Keyblade) with the hourglass keychain you can see on No Name (the Keyblade you receive after defeating Mysterious Figure aka. Young Xehanort in the Land of Departure).

Nomura: That Keyblade was designed as the one Master Xehanort used in KHBBS combined with an hourglass, you see. (KHDDD Ultimania)

It’s weird, because you can easily interpret that scene in KHDDD as him technically borrowing MX’s. Not to mention that he does not use a Keyblade at all in his fight as the Mysterious Figure in KHBBS. But come KHIII and KHDR, where in the former, YX still uses his unique Keyblade, while in the latter he uses the nameless default Keyblade of that era (KHML has its own default Keyblade too judging from the footage) even during his encounters with the MoM. Let’s try to wrap our heads around this without just saying it’s a retcon that we should move on from:

Nomura changing his mind about plot beats and having genuine oversights is nothing new, there are more examples in this series one could ever hope for, like the eye colour switch that started this whole document. If you recall, the first time we have ever seen an even younger version of Xehanort was in KHIII’s E3 2015 trailer (man I feel old), where his eyes were gold. And in the finalised version of the same scene, his eyes have been changed to silver.

Ok, so let’s say that from YX’s own youth, without his time-travelling escapades, he wields the default Keyblade all the way until him and Eraqus become Keyblade Masters 6 years after KHDR’s main campaign, then they inherit No Name and Master’s Defender respectively to use them from that point onwards. Now winding back to the interval of about 1 year between the ending of KHDR and YX’s meeting with the MoM, you can say that he somehow gains another unique Keyblade upon travelling to the KHDDD era and decides to stick with it in KHIII as well. The time of KHBBS in which he travels to become the Mysterious Figure in order to grab Vanitas for the true Organization XIII, you can maybe stretch it and say that he possibly has foregone that unique Keyblade (or any at all) during that particular fight, much like how Xemnas does throughout the whole series despite also having the ability.

From that you can guess that Nomura reconsidered the meaning of the golden eyes. Because from DDD (not counting BBS since that game only implied it) up until KHIII, when someone would have that colour it would mean they were a vessel of Xehanort or, if we are to use the fan-coined term, ‘norted’. I think we all collectively assumed that Anti-Aqua was actually one of the 13 vessels when she was revealed in KHIII’s Frozen trailer in E3 2018, only for that to not have been the case at all. If anyone needs a refresher for her Gummiphone entry:

Anti-Aqua: Aqua, after she fell to darkness. Years and years of wandering through the realm of darkness ended with her being cast into the watery depths beyond its margin.

Sure, for the members of the true Organization you can say that this still applies (again, Vanitas being debatable) but it’s not exclusively golden eyes = Xehanort’s influence anymore. It’s as if they are meant to represent darkness like they have been prior to KHDDD. And this change sort of makes sense, since the story’s focus is shifting heavily to be about the primordial darknesses and shifting back to how one can fall to darkness due to strong negative emotions. One can conclude that maybe Xehanort’s eyes have changed from silver to gold over time due to him actively trying to become a “dark vessel” as seen in KHDR, and that subsequently, since he has gained them, they have become a trait of his other selves. A parallel to this scenario is how the characters on the protagonist's side associate the Black Coat with the Organization even though, in truth, it dates back much further back into the past.

Like I’ve said before, KHDR did not manage to cover and explain every single facet of Xehanort’s life, for better or for worse. However, it did give a lot of context to preexisting scenes and other character moments in the series, and I think it did a good job at that. As for the remaining mysteries such as the now discussed golden eyes, the fate of Scala Ad Caelum and more, depends entirely on whether or not Nomura wants to or has the chance to flesh out, much like how KHDR’s existence itself was once in a lifetime opportunity to dive deeper into the mind of one of the most important antagonists in the series.

I know what you're probably thinking: the Dark Seeker Saga, which depicted the battle against Xehanort, finished with KINGDOM HEARTS III, didn't it? Well, it's a grey area, but I wouldn't call this title part of the Dark Seeker Saga. Why? Because this isn't about battling against Xehanort—it's about the battles of Xehanort.And maybe you're thinking that's a bit of a reach, but… okay, maybe it's a bit of a reach. However, I had the concept in my head for many years. It got shelved because it never really fitted what our team wanted. But around then, I heard from the Union X team that they'd like to do a parallel title with a new protagonist. And, since it seemed there was an unexpected number of Xehanort fans out there, it all came together like it was destined to be. I do tend to believe in destiny. (Tetsuya Nomura on the launch of KHDR in June 2020)

Author’s note: Sorry if this turned out to be more of a ramble than an actual theory post but… I wanted to say that… I feel content with this story, even without the answers I may have wanted. I still thoroughly enjoyed following Xehanort’s journey from start to finish, which made me like him more as a character even. Anyhow… thank you for bearing with me and I hope you have a wonderful day!

[khtrinityftw]

Interesting excerpts from the KH2 Ultimania Nojima interview...

As detailed before, Nojima co-created Ansem with Nomura and handled his involvement in Hollow Bastion as well as the fall-out from what he did, plus End of the World. Other than that, Nojima had far less to do with KH than Jun Akiyama and Daisuke Watanabe did.

Also as detailed before, Nomura wrote the main plot (beginning, middle and end of the game) while the Event Team did the Disney worlds' plots, then Nojima adapted them into his script. The big problem was, well, "he relayed his thoughts to me and then I was free to do the rest", all while Nomura's thoughts in question were confounding to Nojima and difficult to translate into script form.

Mystery Boxes!

Nomura wanted sea salt ice cream as a visual.

Nojima turned it into a plot point, the absolute mad lad!

Hence the weird cheesy Christmas special feel to the Halloween Town visits. It was a deliberate creative choice and I love it.

Ngl, I wish their roles were slightly more important.

Thanks a lot, Nomura. -_-

Was that supposed to be the takeaway there? Well, Nomura did say in his interview that he deleted more details from this subplot.....

FUCK YEAH! Aerith ain't so pure; she can be dark too! Love it!

Look, you can ship Sora and Riku if you please, but I appreciate Nojima being explicit in saying that the intention behind their relationship is the strongest of friendships: two guys who are like brothers even though they aren't related, which means it's ripe for being emotionally tumultuous ("not easy to have" / "embarrassing").

Thank you for that, Nojima, and I hope that you actually stick to this sentiment in your subsequent writing, unlike Nomura who sold out.

The padding. Good lord, is this man self-aware!

The final thing I want to note, which I have noted before - Nojima is really good at dialogue. Not only is his mastery of it responsible for that iconic exchange between Sora and Kairi at the end, but it also helped every character have a unique voice and memorable lines that feel like stuff they would say. Even lines people mock are often deliberate (ex: "we totally owned you lamers!" - as Nojima says elsewhere in this very interview, Seifer is supposed to project faux coolness - "trying too hard to be cool"). He wasn't the best writer for the KH series narratively, but he's at the top of his field in dialogue.

[nebuvoid]

KH1 makes you think that Cloud is looking for Aerith, strengthened by this in the credits. Look he found what he was looking for!

Except. Aerith says this.

This might be obvious to others, but I didn't exactly think much about it back in the day. Too busy feeling sad about Riku being mean.

There's also the fact that there's clear communication and travel between Olympus Coliseum and Traverse Town. You can fight Leon and Yuffie in OC and the TT moogles speak of your progress in the matches.

Cloud is either looking for Tifa or for Zack. Nomura will likely never dig deeper into this as he seems to have lost interest in developing the KH FF cast further (apart from the Versus/VR deal).

Considering Tifa appears looking for Cloud in KH2 and it's a clear parallel between Sora and Riku it seems likely that Cloud was looking for Tifa.

Kingdom Hearts II Ultimania, pg. 718; Interviewer: "This was the first appearance of Tifa from Final Fantasy VII." / Kazushige Nojima: "Tifa wasn't planned to appear at first. I was talking with Tetsu about what Cloud could be doing in Hollow Bastion, and we eventually moved towards him chasing after Sephiroth, but also being chased by something himself. So Cloud's really running from something, but goes around pretending, saying that he's chasing Sephiroth. Then we decided to make it him running from the 'something warm' like what Tifa was after in Advent Children."

The oddity about Zack in BBS is that unlike all other FF cameos he appears in a Disney world and seems native to it. So as much as I would've liked him looking for Zack, I don't think they even know each other in KH. (Nothing you can't headcanon still of course.)

Cloud was likely looking for Tifa in KH1 but by the time KH2 comes around he's grown ashamed of his darkness and hides from her instead.

[hollowwhisperings]

'the yellow Riku wears was directly referenced in CoM to connect him with Belle (to Sora's "Beast")' wait... when did that happen? or is this just speculation?

It was poor wording! Riku has a lot of yellow in his colour scheme for Thematic Purposes: how much of it he's wearing (& with what other colours) tends to tell a [japanese] player what Riku's current state of mind/growth is, (JP colour theory); yellow is strongly connected with royalty, via gold & imperial china, tying to the Series Title & Riku's heavily foreshadowed relevance to it; yellow is also a colour of wisdom/maturity (young Riku is ~wise beyond his age~ & current Riku has regained that wisdom but his Internal Conflicts overshadow it, his current design being predominantly black/white); and, of course, The Sun is yellow.

With respect to Belle, she is always seen in KH wearing her yellow/golden ballgown & the costume "Riku" wears in CoM is very yellow. The "Aitsu" essay by the SoRiku Ultimania goes into how exactly Belle & Riku are paralleled, frame-for-frame & line-by-line, but it is more important to note that these points in CoM are from Sora's POV as his Heart tries to guide him toward Character Growth (after the traumas of KH1 & as a growing boy), Key Memories, and a better Understanding of himself.

In KH, Beauty & the Beast has always existed to reference the current state of Riku & Sora's relationship: Sora meets Beast first, in a time where it is Beast whom he can best relate to.

Sora in KH1 & CoM is deeply insecure about himself, especially in relation to the wiser, always better & out-of-reach Riku. Given that Belle is, y'know, the "Beauty" (& Sora's eventual slip up in KH3 about Riku-expie "Yozora" being "good-looking") it also Implies that Sora is both Aware & Insecure about his own appearance as an "ordinary boy"... while Riku has the whole Princely Silver-Haired Mystery Bishōnen thing going on. Riku is also taller, visibly "stronger" and that whole 1 year older. Sora, at that point and arguably even moreso post-KH3, is definitely the "Beauty" in Sora's POV. Sora, more pointedly in CoM but also in KH1, also considers Riku to be the "Princess Jasmine" to his "Aladdin", no colour motifs required.

I'd guess that Nomura designed Riku without really having the B&tB references much in mind but "Went For It" when they were allowed to use Disney's Belle & Beast, using the shared yellow colour scheme to really emphasize how the Disney characters were paralleling the KH-original ones.

That said, Riku has never personally identified with Belle or Jasmine: he's identified with Beast, Quasimodo, and (possibly)Megara. If he was ever allowed to visually or verbally be associated with the Little Mermaid, Riku would feel Very Deeply Understood: alas, her story is too Queer-coded & Riku's similarities to her Too Strong for that to happen onscreen.

The Sora in KH2 gets to know Belle as her own person (not just as "the person Beast loves & is separated from") and finds that he can relate to her too, situationally at least. It's very rare for Sora to identify himself with any Disney Royalty: he, or the games themselves, almost always lead players to think of Riku instead. Even Rapunzel, who Sora becomes fast friends with prior to learning her Secret Bloodline, is seen by him to better resemble Riku than Sora himself. Rapunzel also goes from yellow-blonde to brunette, in-game, and I swear that the game used that for SoRiku purposes SOMEHOW but there's too much about the New Princesses of Light that overlaps with Riku, his relationship with Sora, & his role as The Sun to figure out the minutia.

[thefreshprinceofjunes]

@greenpanda-djg​

if you read about the necklace theory, theres strong evidence in canon that oblivion represents rikus promise to protect sora on the night of the meteor shower, which sora has now unfortunately forgotten about

oblivions name in japanese is ‘passing memories’, and the item you give the moogle shop in kh3 to obtain it is called the proof of times past

and in the kh1 ultimania, theres an excerpt from nomura which says, "Its development name was the 'Riku Keyblade.' In early stages we planned to have Riku give you a keychain, just like the lucky charm, which is why the keychain is a different colored version of Sora's necklace."

(translation source)

of course, the (roundabout) implication here is that riku is connected to soras necklace, somehow

plus theres this from days:

When Xion's lingering influence makes Roxas throw his Oblivion Keyblade to Riku, she is able to communicate to Riku, begging him to stop Roxas before he can reach Xemnas, because she believes Roxas is not strong enough to face him yet. With the message, Riku receives memories of the time he spent with Xion, shocking him for a moment, but they begin to fade as he reaches the ground.

(from the kh wiki)

-- When Roxas tries to do what Xion has asked of him, Riku hears Xion's voice asking him to stop Roxas. Why?

Nomura: First he have to look at things in order. First, the reason why Roxas throws a keyblade to Riku, and we then see a vision of Xion, is that there is a small remaining part of Xion in Roxas that wants to stop him, and makes him take those actions. The name of the keyblade that is given to Riku suggests that it has something to do with Xion. Xion wants Roxas to set Kingdom Hearts free, but doesn't want him to face Xemnas right now. She sees that he would most likely lose. So she begs Riku to stop him.

(translation source)

and also, the epilogue text after rikus story in recom:

forgotten promise??????? hello????????

so yeah. its pretty clear if you ask me lol

[nyctoheart]

bro... never knew the internet archive had scans of all (if not most?) the kh ultimanias.....

[oveliagirlhaditright]

-is in the FNAF fandom for, literally, a few days and is about to say something that may tick people off (please don't kill me)-

I'm annoyed that it seems like you need to, at this point, follow things outside of the games to completely understand the lore, like the novels? And in watching a video of MatPat's where he's talking to other FNAF theorizers, it sounds like a few times fans even needed to pay attention to Scott's social media posts?

I'm... not doing that. I'll just stick to the games and stick to theorist videos to catch up on anything else I might have missed.

It actually kind of surprises me that it seems like a lot of the FNAF fans seem to like this (however if I'm wrong about this, please correct me. Like I said, I'm new to the fandom). Though it seems like maybe some might not like the idea of having to read books now to understand the story. (There's also canon content in a VR game...)

It reminds me of the KH fandom... But people were never happy with the series console hopping (and eventually, the creator realized this--and felt bad about it--and course corrected by putting all the games on one system). And the worst thing that's ever happened there is canon content being in a mobile game, as well as skits at concerts, that mostly were then put into KHIII itself. And like I said... the fans were never happy about this, and how inaccessible it made things, and loudly complained about it (even if they enjoyed piecing the story of KH together inside the games themselves).

But it seems FNAF fans almost enjoy the scavenger hunt?

It's interesting how fandoms can be different (and also similar in some ways), I guess.

[kingdomheartsmarts]

notes from the Kingdom Hearts Ultimania - The Story before Kingdom Hearts III

Glossary.

I’m sure others have posted about it but I wanted to make my own post for my own reference. long post warning!

series timeline: [ultimania, pg. 2]

- kingdom hearts X

[far in the future]

- kingdom hearts birth by sleep

[about 10 years later]

- kingdom hearts I

[immediately into]

- kingdom hearts chain of memories

[the last Part of KH I to Right before KH II]

- kingdom hearts 358/2 days

[about 1 year]

- kingdom hearts II

[“a short while later”]

- kingdom hearts coded

[“a short while later”]

- kingdom hearts 3D dream drop distance

[“?”]

Kingdom Hearts III

Words: Realms [pg. 6]

Realm of Light ———

A realm inhabited by people that's filled with light. Long ago, it was a single world, but at one point it broke into countless tiny worlds. Each one is covered by an invisible barrier and can only be reached through particular means. Also, it's forbidden as a general rule to casually enter and exit the different worlds, as doing so may throw them out of balance.

Each world has its own "heart." and if the door leading to it is opened, the power of darkness will cause the barrier to break. Pieces of a broken barrier fall in a meteor shower and are used as materials for the Gummi Ship, which travels through the stars.

Realm of Darkness — — —

There is a parallel dimension on the reverse side, so to speak, of the Realm of Light. Generally, no humans exist there, and it's brimming with the creatures of darkness known as the Heartless.

There are two doors connecting the Realms of Light and Darkness: the Door to Light and the Door to Darkness. Only those from the Realm of Darkness can pass through the Door to Darkness, while only those from the Realm of Light can pass through the Door to Light (see facing page).

Realm Between — — —

The realm existing between light and darkness. Unlike the Realm of Light, few worlds are found here. Also, sometimes spatial instability causes Corridors of Darkness to form spontaneously.

Realm of Light: Radiant Garden (Hollow Bastion), Disney Castle, Destiny Islands

Realm Between, in order of closer to light and closer to darkness: Mysterious Tower, Twilight Town, Castle Oblivion (Land of Departure), The World That Never Was

Realm of Darkness: Dark Margin

Hearts (pg. 7)

“In the world of Kingdom Hearts, all beings, not just humans and animals, are said to have a heart dwelling within them. Kingdom hearts is an enormous heart, the aggregation of all hearts.”

sure we’ll go with it.

Kingdom Hearts — — —

All the realms hearts put together. Also called the kingdom of hearts" and the heart of all worlds, it's said to be a source of great power and a treasure trove of knowledge.

Once, people considered Kingdom Hearts to be "a great heart of light,' and to gain this power for themselves, they started a war so terrible it brought the world to ruin (see page 8). For this reason, the present Kingdom Hearts is firmly sealed off and can't be approached easily. The forces of darkness, Including Master Xehanort, attempt to get close to Kingdom Hearts through a variety of means, and Sora and his friends do battle with them in order to stop them.

Kingdom Hearts of Worlds’ Hearts — — —

(The Kingdom Hearts of KH I)

A collection of all the worlds' hearts. The Keyhole that leads to it can be unlocked by the Keyblade of heart, created from the hearts of the Seven Princesses. In KH I, Maleficent and Ansem create Heartless and steal worlds' hearts in their attempt to obtain the Keyblade of heart.

Kingdom Hearts of People’s Heart — — —

[The Kingdom Hearts of II and 3D]

A collection of people's hearts. The members of Organization XIlI believe that they will become whole if they unify with it, and they gather hearts released from Heartless in order to create the Kingdom Hearts of Peoples Hearts. However, Xemnas, the leader of the Organization, seeks to use this Kingdom Hearts as a medium through which to transplant Xehanort's heart into the Organizations members to create the Thirteen Darknesses (see page 9).

The True Kingdom Hearts — — —

[the kingdom hearts of BBS and 3D]

Not the two artificial ones previously mentioned, but rather the Kingdom Hearts that has existed since the beginning of the world. A long, long time ago, it was fought over in the Keyblade War and was eventually swallowed in darkness, but it's said that its counterpart, the X-blade, can cause it to reappear.

Keys (pg.8)

How Keyblades Work — — —

Keyblades are a symbol of the heart's strength, and there are as many Keyblades as there are welders' hearts. Since Sora possesses two hearts, he has the exceptional ability to wield two Keyblades (see page 13). Also, he's a rare example of someone who can use a Keyblade without going through the Bequeathing.

The Forces of Darkness (pg. 9)

Heartless: Pureblood — — —

Heartless who are born naturally. You can release hearts by defeating them with a Keyblade. Most of the Heartless existing in the realms are Purebloods.

Heartless: Emblems — — —

Heartless artificially made by the apprentices of Ansem the Wise, particularly Xehanort, in experiments to create darkness within hearts, They bear an emblem on their bodies that combines a heart with an X, which Xehanort uses as the Recusant's Sigil.

Organization XIII — — —

A group of Nobodies who possess great power and retain their human appearance. It consists of thirteen members, each of whom has a name that's an anagram of their former human name with the addition of the Recusant's Sigil, X

Theyre aware of the imperfectness of Nobodies and seek to unite with the Kingdom Hearts of People's Hearts in order to become whole again, but Sora and his friends destroy them. However as the Organizations secret purpose, replenishing the Thirteen Darknesses, nears completion, it is restarted as the “Real Organization XIII”

Number I-VI were once the apprentices of Ansem the Wise. Xion, the last to join, isn’t a formal member. Rather, she’s designated as “i”, which signifies an imaginary number.

The Real Organization XIII — — —

The Thirteen Seekers of Darkness, consisting of Xehanort and his alternate selves. They consider themselves to be the Thirteen Darknesses and attempt to make a X-blade by clashing with the Seven Lights. At the time of KH 3D, there are twelve of them, of which six have been identified: Master Xehanort, Ansem, Xemnas, Xigbar, Saix, and Young Xehanort.

Post Notes: The Real Organization XIII consists of,

Master Xehanort (I),

Ansem, Seeker of Darkness (II),

Xemnas (III),

Xigbar (IV),

Luxord (V),

Larxene (VI),

Marluxia (VII),

Saix (VIII),

Terra-Xehanort (IX),

Dark Riku (X),

Vanitas (XI),

Young Xehanort (XII),

Xion (XIII),

Vexen, Demyx.